USDA’s March 31, 2017 soybean stock report describes where grain was stored, not what a buyer could contract to purchase. Its National Agricultural Statistics Service estimated 1.73 billion bushels in storage on March 1, 13 percent more than a year earlier. [stocks]
The storage locations matter: farms held an estimated 669 million bushels, down 8 percent, while off-farm holdings reached 1.07 billion, up 33 percent. Those categories identify physical positions, not owners or uncommitted supplies. The farm survey included grain held for feed, seed, sale and government programs; its total was not a sales offering. [stocks]
Planning for the next soybean crop requires a separate input. In Prospective Plantings, also labeled March 31, NASS estimated intended 2017 soybean area at 89.5 million acres, 7 percent above 2016. Its acreage estimates drew primarily on surveys in the first two weeks of March. That intended area was neither harvested output nor additional bushels in storage. [plantings]
Our reading for grain buyers: use the location breakdown to describe the stock position and acreage intentions to frame new-season planning, without treating either as a measure of supply available to buy. [stocks][plantings]
Both reports originate with USDA NASS, not independent corroborating sources. This retrospective uses official PDFs retrieved in October 2026 bearing March 31, 2017 release labels. Authenticated 2017 snapshots, exact historical wording, revision status and cutoff availability remain unconfirmed. [stocks][plantings]
Source documents
- Prospective Plantings (March 2017)https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Todays_Reports/reports/pspl0317.pdf
- Grain Stocks (March 2017)https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Todays_Reports/reports/grst0317.pdf